Death Is Only The Beginning
by Gnosismaster
Summary: Orochimaru is dead, Konoha is destroyed, and Naruto's wife is dead. With nothing left to live for, he tries to take his own life but is stopped by the Shinigami who gives him a chance to make it better. Joint project with Katonshadow. NaruSakuIno.
1. Shinigami

_**Death Is Only The Beginning**_

_**Chapter 1**_

* * *

Death.

That was the word to describe the scene around one Uzumaki Naruto. The Sound had finally done the impossible. They had destroyed Konoha. When the Sound first arrived, the Shinobi and Kuniochi of the Leaf and Sand were able to hold them off, but that changed upon the arrival of the cursed seal soldiers, created by the twisted experiments of Orochimaru. They never had a chance. They swept through the village like locusts. Uzumaki Naruto, now the Rokudiame Hokage, and Haruno Sakura, top medic in all of the Land of Fire and wife of Uzumaki Naruto. Tsunade and Jiraiya died a few years ago protecting Naruto when the Akatsuki tried to kidnap Naruto to extract the Kyuubi from him. Soon there was no one left except for Orochimaru, Naruto, and Sakura. Sakura, because of her training with Tsunade, was able to hold her own against Orochimaru but she was losing the battle. She stayed back at the insistence of her husband.

As the fight progressed, it was clear that they were on equal ground, however they were getting tired. They stared at each other and by mutual consent; they agreed to finish it once and for all. Naruto powered up his Oodama Rasengan, while Orochimaru melted into mud, much to the confusion of the two present. Behind Naruto, the real Orochimaru appeared, Kusanagi in hand, and struck Naruto behind him but before it connected, Sakura ran in between them just in time for the sword to plunge into her heart. Sakura coughed up blood while Naruto turned around in horror. Sakura lifted up her arms and grabbed Orochimaru's arms to prevent him from getting away before he could recover from his momentary shock of what just happened. Naruto, in his rage, lunged toward the struggling snake and slammed the powered up Rasengan into his face, slicing it clean off. What was left of the body dropped down to the ground after Sakura let go of it, Sakura soon dropped. Naruto immediately went to his wife's side and pulled out Kusanagi. He knew that it was a fatal strike, but it didn't make it any easier.

"W-why? Why did you take the blow for me?" She smiled a little and brought her hand up to his cheek.

"You are my husband. I love you so much that I would die for you." She coughed up some blood. "Besides, you were never that observant in the first place, so somebody had to watch your back." She chuckled a little. "The only regret I have is not being able to see our child grow up."

"Sakura-chan, please don't die. I love you so much." Naruto brought his face down and kissed Sakura one last time before Sakura's hands went limp, but what was weird as he kissed her, he could feel a strange tingling sensation on his lips. Naruto was crying by now. He didn't want to believe that she's dead. He held on to her hoping that by some miracle that she will wake up. Kyuubi watched on with sad eyes. Over the years, he had gotten soft for the blonde and his mate. He liked a mate with spunk which she had plenty of.

"**Kit."**

"_..."_

"**She's dead."**

"_No, she's not. She's just resting. She'll wake up, you'll see."_

"**Naruto, you have to snap out of it."** Naruto was quiet for a minute.

"_You're right."_

"**I am?"** Something was up. Naruto _never _agreed this fast with him.

"_Yeah, there is nothing left more me now so there's no point in living."_ Kyuubi's eye's shot opened when he realized what he said.

"**Now now, there's no need to be hasty. Surely there is something left."** Kyuubi tried to reason with him.

"_No, there is nothing left. All my friends are dead, Konoha is destroyed, my child is dead and my wife is dead."_ Naruto pulled out a kunai while kyuubi tried anything to stop him but to no avail. He positioned Sakura so that her back was against his chest. "I will always love you, my Sakura-chan." He thrust his kunai down to where his heart was but as soon as it reached an inch from breaking his skin, he stopped. Angry, he turned his attention to kyuubi. _"Why did you stop me? I wanted to die!"_

"**Wasn't me."**

"_If it wasn't you, then who was it?"_

"That would be us." Naruto snapped out of his daze to see 5 men in front of him wearing different clothes that were totally different then what everybody else that he knew wore. All of them were wearing the same thing, but in a different way.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai." Kyuubi's eyes widened as he recognized the name.

"**Shinigami."**

"_What?"_

"**They are the first level of Shinigami. The second level is the ones who sealed me into you."**

"_Well, what are they doing here?"_

"We are here because the events that have come to pass were not supposed to happen and because of your wife as well." Naruto's head shot up as an old man stepped up.

"What about Sakura?"

"We first noticed the change when your son died. When he died, we were waiting for him to arrive to Soul Society, but he never did so Kurotsuchi here." The man to the right of him raised his hand.

"Yo."

"Went down to investigate the cause and what he discovered is most interesting." The same man that raised his hand walked forward.

"It's quite interesting really. I have never seen anything like this in all my life. It would be a really great experiment." The speaking man was then punched to the ground by a big man with spiky hair with bells at the ends.

"No scaring the kid."

"Alright alright." He took a deep breath before speaking. "Normally when a person dies, their soul is separated from their body and either sent to hell for their crimes or sent to either Soul Society or Heaven where the King lives, but you three are a special case. When you had sex with Sakura, part of Kyuubi's soul was transferred into Sakura and your son, normally this wouldn't prevent the soul from leaving but the seal complicates things. The seal is designed to prevent Kyuubi's soul from leaving your body but since kyuubi's body was destroyed and the Shinigami put his soul into you, so when the soul was moved, the seal was copied and put into your wife and son so in effect, both the human soul and demon soul is still in the body, but this is actually a good thing. The same thing happened to the one you know as Gaara. 6th Division and 2nd Division are looking for him right now.

Naruto was never the smart type so it took a while for it to sink in with an equally confused Kyuubi. "So what does this mean?"

"What it means is that the souls of your wife and child are still in their bodies and they must be released. While we are doing this, you will be doing something else in the meantime."

"Huh?" This time the old man spoke again.

"Like I said, the course of events that happened was not supposed to happen. You and Sakura are indeed married, there's no mistaking that, but Orochimaru was supposed to die a long time ago, but he received help from an unknown source. You must go back in time for this."

"What exactly am I supposed to do?"

"Find out who's helping him and tell us so we may act on it, but there are certain things that must not change if you wish to remain the person that you are now and who you are married too, but for now, we must train you to harness the power of Kyuubi." Naruto looked at Sakura's still form and thought for a while.

"Will Sakura still be my wife?"

"She should as long you don't do anything that changes the timeline too much."

"_What's your take on this, fuzball?"_

"**I'm staying out of this. I don't want to know what happens to me."**

"We haven't forgotten about you, kyuubi."

"**What? You can hear me?"**

"Yes, we can. We will alter the seal of yours a little."

"**Alter it how?"**

"We will allow Naruto full access to your chakra and become partly merged." Kyuubi sighed.

"**Do I have a choice?"**

"Not really."

_Deep within Naruto's mind_

Within the deep recesses to Naruto's mind, a familiar pink haired soul is hiding within one of Naruto's earlier forgotten memories. How she got here is quite interesting indeed.

"**Cha! I knew it was a good idea to transfer myself when Naruto last kissed me! So they plan on going to the past. Now I just need to figure out a way to move myself into my younger self when we meet up so I can convince her to be with our Naruto-kun and to keep myself hidden until then!"**

_Meanwhile_

If one looked closely at the spiky haired man, one would see a faint smirk appear on his lips and if you could read his mind, you could hear him thinking to himself._ "Good thing I hid her when I did the binding spell on Naruto. Now I just have to make sure that they don't discover the concealing spell on her when they alter the seal."_

"Alright, I'll do it."

"Good." He turned toward the spiky haired man. "Kenpachi, would you mind relieving Naruto of Sakura?" The man known as Kenpachi nodded and walked up to Naruto and picked up Sakura from Naruto's arms as Naruto stood up. He led him over to the old man and something that looks like a door that just popped up. Naruto looked back at the ruins and said a silent good bye before disappearing.

* * *

_34-ish years backwards_

A blond haired man looked around to see everything in Konoha, _'Must be the day before the genin test...'_ He thought to himself before spotting a blond boy with an orange jacket wrapped around his waist running past him. He was wearing a black shirt with an orange Konoha symbol, each cheek adorned 3 whisker-like marks and he had cerulean eyes, filled with warmth and determination. _'There he is... or rather there I am!'_ The man thought to himself as he watched the boy with the sun kissed hair run with 2 buckets of paint in his left hand.

The man himself also had 3 whisker-like marks on each cheek and had the same eyes. He was dressed in a black robe and had a zanpakuto hanging by his left hip, easy to grab should he need to. On his feet were 2 normal sandals. What's different about him is that his eyes are silted and he had fox ears and a red tail.

Within an instant he vanished, and appeared in front of the boy. "Well, looks like I'm going to have to get used to being short again!" The man said to himself and chuckled shortly afterwards. He stood still and a blue aura flowed around him and his eyes glowed blue, before the boy ran through him, leaving the man gone.

"Yahoo! It worked!" Naruto yelled as he continued running as fast as he could. He restricted the use of shunpo as it would be too suspicious. He sped up and hid in front of a wall by blending into it. A few chunnins ran past his hiding place and he started laughing to himself, before someone else who did the same appeared behind him. "I...ruka...sensei? Iruka-sensei! I missed you so much!"

Naruto tackled a confused Iruka, hot tears of joy and sadness ran down his face. Iruka had been among the first to die, sacrificing his life to provide some academy students time to escape, his sacrifice was in vain though when a few more Sound jounin arrived and killed them.

Iruka smiled a bit until he remembered why he had come after Naruto. "Naruto, after class you're cleaning up the Hokage's faces!" Iruka stated in a stern voice. To make sure Naruto couldn't get away, he tied him up in ropes. Uzumaki Naruto was dragged along the hard cemented ground that day to class.

Upon arriving at the class room, everyone laughed at the misfortune of Uzumaki Naruto, other than Sasuke who muttered the word 'idiot' under his breath, and Shino who remained silent, his face portraying no emotion at all, his sun glasses just reflected the light of the sun coming in through the academy's classroom's windows, but his bugs were acting weird.

Naruto looked around; everyone was just like he remembered them, even Sakura. He sighed, this meant that he'd have to prove that he was better than Sasuke again and that would be extremely difficult with Sakura's current loyalty to Sasuke.

Naruto glared at said raven haired Uchiha, oh how much easier it would have been to defeat Orochimaru if Orochimaru hadn't succeeded in taking over his body. The changes to the timeline might make things different; he was willing to do it for his best friend, even if it meant killing him to save him. **"That baka! He doesn't know of what I'm planning! Shannaro!"** Inner Sakura roared inside Naruto's mind.

"**Mmm, what was that?"** Kyuubi wondered as he thought he heard another voice. It sounded feminine.

"**Oops, note to self, don't shout out anymore when I'm this close to Kyuubi-kun."**

"Class, thanks to Naruto here we're going to be reviewing the **Henge** technique." Everyone groaned, once again, except Sasuke and Shino. Everyone queued up, before long it was Sakura's turn.

"**Henge!"** Her chakra flowed around her momentarily before in a poof of smoke she turned into an exact duplicate of Iruka.

"Very good, next!" Iruka yelled, a poof of smoke later Sakura was back as Sakura, with an ecstatic expression on her face.

"Did you see that Sasuke-kun?" She asked the raven haired Uchiha survivor, he merely ignored and stepped forward, performed a single hand sealed and **Henge**'d into Iruka.

"Very good! Next!" It was Naruto's turn now. A girl wearing a purple top and bandages as pants was behind him, she had blonde hair held in a high ponytail.

Naruto walked forward and heard the girl behind him. "This is all your fault." She stated. Naruto stood in thought for a minute, ignoring Ino's comment. _'Should I do it properly or should I mess with him like before, well, I got a reputation as a prankster to keep!''_ He thought to himself and smirked. He put his hands into the same seal as everyone else and his own chakra formed a circle around him, with 2 streaks flowing freely in the air.

"**Henge!**"

Smoke rose around Naruto and when it cleared, there was a girl with decent sized breasts and two pony tails, with the same eyes and whisker marks as Naruto. She wore nothing but had small clouds covering the private parts, leaving little to the imagination. "Hello Iruka-kun..." She purred at him. Blood spurted out of his nose in twin geysers, sending him flying into the back of the wall.

As Naruto reverted back into his usual self, he burst out into laughter, holding his chest with his left arm and pointing at Iruka with his right. "You should have seen yourself!" He shouted and continued, some of the class laughed, the girls wanted to kill him, and the rest had fainted from their own nose bleeds.

_'Perverts... Hehe, Ero-sennin made me one too so I guess I'm somewhat of a hypocrite. But if Sakura-chan knew about me helping Jiraiya do 'research' for his last book, we wouldn't have been able to have our son and I'd have been in a lot of pain...'_ Naruto thought upon completing his survey of the classroom. Ino attacked the perverted boy and when she tried to punch him, she found that she'd punched Sasuke in the stomach after Naruto had used **kawimiri** to dodge her. She growled in anger and sighed as Sasuke fell to the ground, with a hand holding his stomach, he hadn't been anticipating that apparently.

He walked up to Sakura. "Hey Sakura-cha- oof!" He failed to complete his sentence as the pink haired girl knocked the wind out of him. She wasn't finished though, she then roundhouse kicked him through a window.

**"Shannaro! Take that you perverted dobe!"** The inner Sakura of the past yelled in Sakura's head. The moment of the attacks were all that the future inner Sakura needed to transfer to the past's Sakura. **"Hey, who the fuck are you?"** Past inner said to future inner.

"**I'm you from the future."**

"**You are?"**

"**Yes, now come here bitch."** Future inner lunged toward past inner resulting in a cat fight which involved pulling hair, punching, name calling, and other things that made outer Sakura quite dizzy. The fight cloud disappeared and future inner is seen waving a victory flag and holding past inner by the hair. **"I win, now get inside me."**

"**Yes ma'am."** Past inner was then absorbed into future inner the same way past Naruto was absorbed by future Naruto.

"Uh, what happened?" Said Sakura as she recovered from the dizziness.

"**Nothing happened; just go about your day. Maybe after school, you can apologize to Naruto for the punches you gave him."**

"_Why would I do that? He deserved it for being a perverted bastard."_

"**Do you know why he is one?"**

"_Of course I do, he's... umm."_

"**You don't know do you? If fact, do you know anything about him?"** Sakura was speechless. Her inner persona never shown any interest in Naruto but nevertheless, she was right. She doesn't know a single thing about him. For some reason, this caused a pang of guilt in her heart. _**"Hehe, my plan is working."**_

_Meanwhile_

Naruto got up outside, a few cuts on his face and body; he looked down at the orange jumpsuit. He loathed it but never complain, because if he did then he'd probably be without clothing. He rubbed his stomach and walked home, it was near the end of the academy anyway so he wouldn't be missing anything, he left a Kage Bunshin behind, just to be sure, and that was reinforced with chakra.

------------

An alarm went off in a small apartment. Naruto groaned and threw it against the wall, breaking it in the process. He rolled out his bed and hit the floor with a thud. Naruto's eyes snapped open as he realized what day it was. It was the graduation day; he would have to make sure he failed this. Mizuki could cause problems for him later if he wasn't stopped.

The ugly orange jump suit lay on the floor beside Naruto. He grumbled and made his bed, putting the clothes on top of his bed. He made his way to a small bathroom and had a shower as well as brushing his teeth, but when he looked into the mirror, he discovered something different about himself. He looked closer and discovered he now had silted eyes, fox ears and a red tail. "Huh, so they did come back. I was wondering about that." He dried off before getting dressed; it was time to go to the academy. He walked out, not bothering to lock the door; if anyone was going to steal from him then they'd just force the lock anyway.

He entered the classroom to see it buzzing with excitement, everyone but Sasuke, Shikamaru and Shino talking about how once they were ninja, they'd be able to get all the chicks' attention/Sasuke's love. When he entered the classroom, all eyes were on him. _"My fox senses tell me I should start running now."_ Naruto didn't even get a chance to turn around as he was suddenly pounced upon by all the girls in the classroom. After about 15 minutes of ear pulling, tail stroking, and girls were being beaten back by, surprisingly, Sakura and Ino. Naruto could faintly hear Kyuubi roaring with laughter above the high pitched squeals. Naruto sat down next to Sasuke with the help of Sakura and Ino who sat near him to ward off the newly established _Naruto Fangirls Club_ and started to fall asleep, he was still tired. His little plan was ruined upon the arrival of Iruka. "Okay class, settle down. I know that you're excited because it's the day for the genin exams but you're going to need to focus 100 percent." he spoke loud and clear, making sure that everyone heard him, including the half asleep Naruto and the fully asleep Shikamaru. His eyes lingered on the drooling Naruto and his new appearance.

"It's the **Bunshin no jutsu** exam this year, Yamanaka Ino first." Iruka said calmly and walked through into a back room followed by Ino. Ino came out shortly after with a happy expression on her face, those sapphire orbs of hers gleamed with pride of her achievement. A few more names were called and they all had the same look as Ino as they carried a piece of cloth that was folded and on the top was a metal plate with the symbol of the Hidden Leaf Village, Konoha.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka called through the rooms. Naruto got up and hopped over the desk with a smile on his face and a look of determination in his eyes, he was determined alright, determined to stop Mizuki. "You are to perform the **Bunshin no jutsu** in front of me and Mizuki to become a genin." Naruto nodded and formed his hands into a ram seal. His chakra flew chaotically around him as he gathered his chakra fro the jutsu, he made sure he gathered to little.

"**Bunshin no jutsu!"** Naruto yelled. 2 Poofs of smoke appeared next to Naruto and when they cleared, a sick looking copy of Naruto was laid down on the ground, and another sickly looking clone of him was holding his stomach, looking ready to puke.

"You fail." Iruka said nonchantly.

"He created 2 clones Iruka and it's clear he wants to become a ninja, why don't we just let him pass?" Iruka shook his head.

"No Mizuki, everyone else created 3 perfect clones whilst he made 2 clones that will probably get him killed on the battle field." Naruto faked being upset and walked outside, he sat on a swing and rocked whilst staring at the ground, giving him the look of someone who's upset and/or deep in thought. The white haired chunnin, Mizuki, walked behind Naruto. "Naruto, I need to talk to you, follow me." Naruto got up off the seat to hear some women talking about how it was good that he'd failed. He smirked on the inside. If they only knew.

--------

"I bet you're thinking that Iruka failed you because he doesn't like you aren't you?" Naruto nodded, even though he didn't think that at all. "Well he's just looking out for you, he doesn't want you to go out and get yourself killed. Iruka sees himself in you, you both having been pranksters, seeking attention and you both being orphans. I'll help you graduate, here's what you do." They were on top of a roof and it was sunset. Mizuki whispered some instructions to Naruto, who nodded and began running towards the Hokage tower.

------

Naruto ran in and navigated his way through the Hokage's tower, soon stumbling upon a locked room. He used his skills to pick the lock, where he saw a large scroll. He remembered the scroll very well. He started walking towards it, the room was dark and the only light there was coming in through the door.

Footsteps echoed from near Naruto, it was the Hokage if Naruto remembered correctly. Putting his hands into the ram seal, Naruto transformed into the girl again, "Hello Sarutobi-kun..." She purred as he got into view, the Hokage looked at him/her and passed out with a nose bleed. Grinning, Naruto reverted to his usual self and strapped the scroll to his back, before exiting the building and heading towards the Hokage's tower.

-------

Iruka laid on his bed staring at the ceiling, his thoughts lingering on his dead last student, Uzumaki Naruto. He felt bad for Naruto failing but he didn't want Naruto to get killed. The life of a shinobi is a harsh one and he didn't think Naruto was ready.

He sighed and thought back to past events that were Naruto related, there was one that stuck out like a sore thumb. The Kyuubi attack. He remembered being grabbed by 2 chunnin as a kid and being taken away from the battle field, taken away from his mother and father in their final hours.

A knock on the door broke him from his musings. He opened it to see his teaching assistant. "What's wrong Mizuki?" He asked, seeing a look of worry, albeit fake worry, but still a form of worry in Mizuki's eyes.

"It's Naruto! He's stolen the Scroll of Sealing!" Iruka gasped in shock, Naruto never did anything bad like this, did he? Iruka quickly got into his ninja gear and ran out of the door, deciding to go search for Naruto.

---------

Naruto panted as he sat on the dirty forest ground, the scroll open in front of him. He'd learnt a few jutsu he'd missed the opportunity to learn before, like the **Doku no Yaiba** (blade of poison). Iruka dropped in front of him. "I found you at last." He stated, he quickly looked over Naruto's state. _'He's been... training?'_ He thought as he looked at Naruto. "You found me already? I only had time to learn one technique from the scroll. Once I show you it, you'll let me pass like Mizuki said, right?!" False excitement being added with every word. Iruka raised an eyebrow; a noise from a distance in front of him alerted him to danger.

"Naruto! Watch out!" He charged across the grassy ground and pushed Naruto out of the way, whilst bringing his arms in front of him in a defensive manner. Kunai embedded themselves into Iruka's clothing at the arms and legs, trapping him into a tree as they impaled it. Mizuki jumped to the tree across from him. "Naruto, give me the scroll." Iruka's heart beat was high; he was scared for the lives of himself, and Naruto.

Naruto looked at him. "No Naruto! Don't give him the scroll!" Naruto pulled a confused expression. _'Like I'd give it to Mizuki anyway.'_ Mizuki began laughing. "I'll show you why you can trust me Naruto. I'll tell you a secret no one else will tell you."

"No Mizuki, you'll be breaking the Sandaime's law!" Iruka yelled, struggling for freedom of movement. Mizuki snarled at him, not caring about the law at all.

"What law?" Naruto asked, despite already knowing.

"That's right, you don't know because it's a law about you. We're not allowed... To tell you... That you are the Kyuubi who attacked 12 years ago!" Mizuki shouted out for the world to hear, fake tears fell down Naruto's face as he fell back onto all fours. "Now die demon fox!" He grabbed one of the two huge shuriken held loosely to his back by rope and spun it with his hand. Iruka used this moment to escape. Mizuki threw it and Naruto's eyes shook with fear, if Mizuki knew he wasn't scared then the outcome may have been different from what it was before. The shuriken reflected what little light there was in the night sky as it flew through the air with a high speed.

Naruto closed his eyes and crawled backwards slowly. A sticky liquid hit his face as he looked up. Red. It was red. Blood. It brought back so many bad memories. Memories of his precious people dying. Memories of other peoples' precious ones dying. Memories of Sakura-chan dying. Real tears came out of Naruto's eyes as he saw Iruka on all fours above him, the big shuriken sticking out of his back.

"Why? Why Iruka-sensei?" He managed to get out. Iruka looked down at him warmly with teary eyes before coughing out more of his blood.

"Because... We're the same. I would pull pranks to get attention after my parents died just like you do..." Naruto got up and ran away crying. "Wait Naruto!!" Iruka shouted but he got no reply and Naruto seemed to ignore him. Iruka did his best to ignore the excruciating pain and looked around for the scroll, it was gone. _'Naruto must have taken it...'_ He thought before noticing Mizuki jumping off.

"Naruto! Give me the scroll!" yelled Iruka to Naruto, who was jumping across trees to the left of Mizuki. Naruto just jumped at him and shoulder tackled him to the ground. Iruka just growled as he got up and a poof of smoke revealed him to be Mizuki. "How did you know I wasn't Iruka?!" Mizuki yelled, he was clearly frustrated. Another poof of smoke revealed Naruto to be Iruka. "Because I'm Iruka." Mizuki growled at him.

"Why do you even try? We both know that he's the same type as me, he'll use the scroll to gain power, like a demon." Naruto was listening from behind a nearby tree.

"You're right; a demon like Kyuubi would do that. But Naruto isn't like that, sure he's clumsy and everyone picks on him for it, but he works hard and helps other people. Naruto is one of my precious students." Iruka exclaimed proudly. Mizuki didn't seem too pleased and grabbed the remaining large shuriken. "I was going to wait till later to kill you but I guess you'll die now demon lover!" He started spinning it but before he could do anything else an orange blur charged at him and tackled him to the floor.

"Don't ever hurt my Iruka-sensei!" He stated angrily. Mizuki smirked, this fight would easily be his, he was after all a chunnin and Naruto was but a mere academy student. It should be easy for him, right? This wouldn't be the case. Naruto glared at him.

"I'll kill you in one shot demon!" Mizuki yelled, trying to strike fear into the heart of Naruto. Naruto continued to glare, unaffected by Mizuki's pathetic attempt to scare him.

"Bring it on! I'll pay you back one thousand fold!" Naruto yelled. "**Kage Bunshin no jutsu!**" He yelled upon putting his hands in a cross seal. The forest was filled with Naruto's who were all cracking their knuckles. "I thought you said you were going to take me out in one shot!" One yelled. "If you won't attack, then we will!" They all charged and Mizuki soiled himself. By the time Naruto was finished, Mizuki looked like he was near death.

Iruka was leaned against the tree. He was truly proud of his student. "Naruto! Come here!" He yelled and Naruto complied. "Close your eyes." He did as told once more and closed his eyes. "You can open them now." In Iruka's hands were his goggles, and Iruka's head lacked its hitae-ate. He started to cry and tackled Iruka.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He repeated about 5 times, and then shut up. Even though he knew what would happen, he was still unbelievably happy to see Iruka's care for him once more.

* * *

AN- This fic is a joint project between me and Katonshadow. It is a Naruto/Bleach crossover with a NaruSakuIno pairing. Please read and review. 


	2. Realizations

_**Death Is Only The Beginning**_

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Realizations**_

* * *

The sun rose in the sky, bathing the city in its warming light, waking one cherry blossom from her slumber. Last night was crazy. What brought this on was a topic that surprised even her, Naruto.

_Flashback_

_The Haruno family sat down in the dining room and started to eat their supper. Sakura, however, was hesitant as she has a lot on her mind. Iris Haruno, her mother, noticed this. "Sakura, is something wrong?" She didn't answer at first but gathered up the courage to speak._

"_Mama, do you know anything about Naruto?" Iris froze as well as her father, which didn't go unnoticed._

"_Why do you ask?"_

"_Well, when I was walking with him today, I noticed that the villagers giving him hateful glares and some even spit and threw rotten fruit at him, and when he tried to buy groceries, the store kicked him out the moment he stepped in saying 'We don't serve your kind demon shit!'" Both the father and mother were shocked._

'_He can't even get food?' They thought._

"_Why did they call him 'demon shit' and why do they hate him so much? I mean I know that he is a prankster and all but even Naruto knows how far he can go." Both the mother and father looked at each other in worry and Sakura clearly saw this, which added even more to the mystery of Naruto Uzumaki. Finally, her parents spoke._

"_That's something that we are not allowed to tell you and only Naruto can tell you, if he decides but I doubt that he would tell you even if you asked."_

"_Why wouldn't he?" Iris sighed._

"_You have to understand something. Naruto was and still is hated ever since he was born for something that was beyond his control by almost all the villagers and even some of the ninja hate him and yet despite all the hate he has received over the years, he yearns to protect this village. If it were me in his position, I would have killed myself a long time ago." Sakura gasped. "Tell me something Sakura; do you know why Naruto has a huge crush on you?" Now Sakura was confused, she doesn't remember even meeting him before the Academy. "From the look on your face, I guess you don't." She shook her head. "It was six years ago..."_

_Flashback within a flashback_

_A 6 year old Sakura Haruno was walking home from playing in the park. As she walked, she started to hear crying somewhere. As she looked around, she followed the sound to see a blond boy about the same age as her, on the ground, covered in bruises and blood and some kind of white liquid was all over him, particularly on his arse. He was also naked. As soon as she saw him, she ran up to him and tried to help him but as soon as she got close, she could hear him saying something. "Please don't hurt me, I didn't do anything." He repeated it over and over. As she got closer, he noticed her and tried to scoot away from her, in fear that she would beat him up._

"_It's alright; I'm not going to hurt you."_

_(Sniff) "Your not?" (Sniff)_

"_No silly. I'm going to help you. I'll bring my mother and she'll help you. My house isn't far from here." Naruto didn't respond as he wasn't awake anymore. Sakura started to run to her house to get her mother and bring her back. When they came back, Iris was shocked at the still form at her feet. She didn't waste any time as she picked him up and ran back to her house because she knew that the hospital wouldn't help him. After they got home, Iris immediately started to clean him up so she could treat his wounds but as she cleaned him, she noticed that there were no wounds at all. She finished cleaning him up, dried him, and put him in Sakura's bedroom. Sakura stayed in the bedroom while Iris went out to get the Hokage. It didn't take very long for Naruto to wake up._

"_Are you okay?" Asked Sakura as he started to wake up._

"_Where am I?"_

"_You're in my bedroom."_

"_I am?"_

"_Yes silly. My name is Sakura Haruno."_

"_Naruto Uzumaki. What happened?"_

"_My mom brought you back and cleaned you up and she just left to get the Hokage."_

"_Oh. Why did you help me? No one else does."_

"_Because I wanted to and you needed help."_

"_Really?" Naruto's eye's started to tear up._

"_Yes, really." Naruto shot up and hugged Sakura who hugged him back._

"_Will you be my friend?" Naruto calmed down a little bit._

"_Sure, I'll be your friend." She let go of them and held out her pinky. Naruto didn't know what it meant and it showed. "It means the start of a friendship." Naruto nodded in understand and intertwined his pinky with hers._

_Flashback within a flashback ends_

"_You played with him for a while until you met Ino and Sasuke. You and Naruto drifted apart after that until you stopped seeing him altogether." Sakura was stunned, Inner Sakura was smirking, and the parents watched on with amused expressions. Sakura couldn't believe it, she now remembers it all clear as day and for the first time, she resents the Uchiha for taking her first friend away from her. She also realized that from the way that she found him that day, he was most likely raped. Iris finally spoke up. "So you finally understand." She nodded._

"_I was so mean to him and yet he still likes me." Tears started to swell up in her eyes._

"_Well, now's your chance to make it all right. Why don't you invite him for supper tomorrow?"_

"_I will, mama. Thank you."_

"_Not a problem sweetheart, now eat your food before it gets cold." She nodded and made a vow right then and there that she would be much nicer to Naruto and to make every possible effort to know him and give him a chance as well._

_End flashback_

After getting up and getting ready for team selections, she left the house after eating a full breakfast this time unlike the last times where she would be on her stupid diet for her precious Uchiha. She made her way over to the Academy but on the way there, she realized that Naruto failed the genin exam. That put a frown on her face. She didn't know where he lived so how was she supposed to find him and invite him over tonight. She kept on thinking about it all the way to the classroom where she got the surprise of her life. "Naruto-kun, what are you doing here?" Sakura just surprised herself by adding the suffix. There was Naruto, wearing a leaf headband. Naruto turned around at the voice.

"Hi, Sakura-chan." He made his way over to her.

"How did you get that headband?" Naruto smiled as he told his tale of last night, making sure that he left out the part with Kyuubi. After he finished his tale, Sakura's mouth was hanging open.

"You learned a jounin level technique in one night?" He nodded. "Wow, you are full of surprises, aren't you?" He laughed.

"I guess so."

"That reminds me, Naruto-kun." At this particular point in time, 3 things happened when she said Naruto-kun.

Ino, when she heard it the first time, thought that she was crazy but when she heard it again, she thinks Sakura is insane. _"I need to talk with her later."_

Sasuke, who was nearby, had this thought. _"Finally, that she-witch is off my back, I hope. God, I hate annoying fan-girls."_

Naruto's expression was the best. _"Did she really call me Naruto-kun?"_

"**Yep, congratulations kit."** Tears started to swell up in his eyes and before Sakura knew it, she was being hugged by Naruto and Sakura hugged him back in understanding, much to Naruto's surprise.

"Anyway, like I was saying, my mom wants you to come over for supper tonight." Heads shot up at this.

"Really?"

"Yeah, also..." Sakura mood changed and was noticed by Naruto. "I want to apologize for all the mean things I did to you." Naruto put a hand on her shoulder.

"I forgive you, Sakura-chan." She smiled.

"Great, so come by our house around 7, mom's going all out tonight."

"Ok Sakura-chan, I'll see you then." They took their seats and immediately, Ino walked (more like stormed) up to Sakura and demanded for her to explain what just happened. The door opened and Iruka-sensei walked in and the whole class quieted down as he made his way over to his desk.

"I want to congratulate you on passing the exams and becoming genin of Konoha. We will put you in teams of threes under the care of a jounin sensei. Team one..." This continued until he got to Team 7. "Team 7...Naruto Uzumaki...Sakura Haruno...and Sasuke Uchiha. Your sensei is Kakashi Hatake." Iruka waited for the shouting to begin but strangely it never came. "Team 8...Hinata Hyuuga...Shino Aburame...and Kiba Inuzuka. Your sensei is Kurenai Yuuhi. Team 10...Ino Yamanaka...Shikamaru Nara...and Chouji Akimichi. Your sensei is Asuma Sarutobi." The door opened and a man stepped in smoking a cigarette.

"I'm here for Team 10." 3 of the genin got up and left with the man. This continued until Team 7 was left.

_3 Hours Later_

_(Sigh) "Moment of truth, why am I doing this again?" _Kakashi thought as he made his way to the classroom where his new students resides. _"Oh yeah, Sasuke. Stupid council."_ He opened the door to see...Naruto and Sakura meditating? Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Hi Kakashi-sensei, 'bout time you got here."

"What were you doing?"

"I heard that meditating increases your chakra control so we thought we could give it a try."

"Oh ok, well my first impression of you guys is I like you." He said with a smile. "Meet me on the roof." They nodded and Kakashi poofed away. Sasuke was first out the door followed by Naruto and Sakura.

"I'll teach you more exercises to raise your chakra reserves and control later, Sakura-chan."

"Ok Naruto-kun." The two made their way to the rooftop to see Kakashi and Sasuke waiting for them.

"Great, now that we are all here, let's introduce ourselves. Tell me you names, likes, dislikes, any hobbies you may have, and any dreams for the future." Sakura raised her hand.

"Why don't you start sensei?"

"Ehh, why not? My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have many likes and dislikes. Don't have many hobbies and my dreams for the future...don't feel like telling you that."

"All he really told us was his name." Naruto nodded in agreement.

"How about you pinky?" Sakura's eyebrow twitched when he said 'pinky'.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. My likes are Naruto-kun, training. My dislikes..." Here, she shot the Uchiha a look which Kakashi noticed. "...and bullies." My hobbies are training and studying. My dreams for the future...don't really have any right now."

"_Hmm, interesting. From what I was told, she was a Sasuke fan girl but now, I can tell she is taking things seriously. I wonder if Naruto had anything to do with it."_

"Emo-king."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I have no likes and the only thing I dislike is my brother. My hobbies are none of your concern. My dreams...no my ambition is to kill a certain person and to restore the Uchiha clan."

"_Ahh, great. I knew it this would happen."_

"Blondie."

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are Sakura-chan, ramen, and training. I hate the three minutes it takes to cook the ramen and Sasuke-teme. My hobbies include tasting new kinds of ramen. My dream for the future is to surpass the 4th Hokage and become the greatest Hokage ever!" Sakura giggled.

"_Interesting bunch this year."_

"Okay, meet me at training grounds 7 tomorrow at 6 am for your real genin exam."

"What do you mean 'real genin exam'?"

"It means that the exam that we took only proved that we have the capabilities to be ninja. The real exam is to see whether or not we can work as a team, right Kakashi-sensei?"

"Well, that's your opinion." Kakashi said unfazed, but in truth he was surprised at the answer he got. "Anyway, you have the rest of the day off." Kakashi turned around to leave. "Also, don't eat anything for breakfast tomorrow or else you'll throw up." He poofed away after saying that.

"I'm going home." Stated Sasuke. Naruto simply ignored him and turned toward Sakura.

"So what are you going to teach me now, Naruto-_sensei_?"

"Sensei?" Asked a confused Naruto.

"Why not? You have been teaching me new things."

"But sensei makes me feel old." He put on a pouty face that made Sakura giggle at his expression.

"Anyway, what are you going to teach me now?" Naruto grinned.

"Tree walking."

_Later that night_

Naruto Uzumaki stood in front of the Haruno household wondering if this was the right thing to do. He was dressed in his very best clothes which only consist of black pants and a blue shirt. He also had an Azalea bouquet in his hands, thanks to Ino. He sighed. "Here goes nothing." He walked up to the door and knocked on it. He heard shuffling of feet and the door opened to reveal Iris Haruno and Albedo Haruno staring at him. He gulped loud enough for them to hear. Naruto had faced against Orochimaru, fought against the Akatsuki and they didn't scare him but facing the wrath of two parents, he was scared stiff. "Hello, H-Haruno-san."

"Uzumaki." He gulped again. In truth, they don't hate him but they wanted to see if he was determined to win the heart of their child, speaking of which...

"Mom, dad, stop scaring Naruto-kun and let him in." The two parents parted to let Sakura through only to latch herself on the arm of the blond who then dragged him into the house. After she dragged him into the house, she let go of him.

"Umm, I got these for you." Naruto said nervously. Naruto handed the flowers to Sakura who took them from him.

"Thank you Naruto. They're beautiful. I'll go put these in water." She disappeared to go put them in water and a vase when Naruto was suddenly hugged from behind. He stiffened. There were only two people in the house besides him and her. He was ready to bolt when he heard a smoothing voice coming from behind him.

"I want to thank you Naruto-kun. You have shown Sakura the right path. You have no idea what this means to us." Naruto was speechless. He thought that they were going to try and kill him but instead they are thanking him?

"Y-you're welcome."

"Good, personally, I'm glad that Sakura choose you instead of the Uchiha." This time it was the father who spoke. Sakura took this time to come around the corner and see what her mother is doing to Naruto and the effect it is having on him.

"Mom, you're scaring him."

"I am?"

"Yes you are. Look at him." She laughed as she got a look at his face.

"So I am. Well, why don't you show him around the house while we get the table set up?"

"Alright." Sakura grabbed Naruto's hand and took him upstairs and showed him around while the parents set up dinner. About 5 minutes later, they called out to them that supper is ready. They came down the stairs and went into the living room and Naruto gasped at the sight. The entire table was full with food. In his past, Naruto was never able to go to the store to buy food. He was only able to eat ramen at Ichiraku and have someone else to buy it for him but he never asked to get a lot. Naruto started to tear up while Sakura looked on with confusion. "Mama, don't you think you went overboard?" She chuckled.

"Not at all, I heard that Naruto had a bottomless stomach so I made a lot of food for him. _Not to mention that he can only eat ramen."_

"Thank you, Haruno-san."

"Call me Iris. Come on and sit down and eat." Naruto went to the table and sat down along with Sakura and her parents and started eating.

_Later_

"I'm full." Naruto patted his round belly. Sakura giggled.

"So you are."

"Thanks for inviting me over, Iris-chan."

"You are welcome."

"Naruto-kun, can I talk to you in private?" Sakura' voice was serious and he knows it. They got up and went into another room. Naruto sat down on the couch next to Sakura.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Sakura let her head down. He could see that she was gathering the courage to speak. Whatever it was, Naruto figured, it would not be good. After a couple of minutes, she raised her head.

"Why do the villagers hate you so much?" Naruto caught his breath. His expression turned completely to sadness and horror, which didn't go unnoticed.

"I can't tell you, Sakura. I don't want you to hate me like all the others."

"_He didn't add the –chan. He really is serious about this. Whatever it is, it must be really bad."_

"_**Give him a chance Haruno. Hear him out before you make any decisions."**_ Added Inner Sakura. Outer Sakura mentally nodded.

"I can never hate you. Not after the times we spent together. I really, really like you and nothing you did or will do will ever make me hate you."

"Are you sure, Sakura?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Naruto remained silent for a while. Sakura didn't say anything as she knew he needed time. Finally, he gained the courage to speak.

"Do you remember when Iruka-sensei taught us about Kyuubi in the Academy?" She nodded, not sure where this was going. "We were taught that the Yondiame killed Kyuubi at the cost of his own life, but that is a lie. It's true that the Yondiame died fighting the Kyuubi but he couldn't kill it. No human can kill a demon lord." Sakura was getting scared at where this was going.

"**Calm down girl. Let him finish." **Said Inner Sakura.

"So he did the only thing he could do, he gathered up his newborn baby and rode off on top of Gamabunta to where Kyuubi was where he then used a kinjutsu to seal the spirit of Kyuubi into his son at the cost of his own."

"**That bastard got off a lucky shot."** Kyuubi said irritability.

"_Shut it fox, I'm talking here."_

Sakura was beginning to piece together the puzzle now. It all made sense, the beatings, the hateful glares, the insults, the whisker marks on his face – all because of Kyuubi.

"It was the Yondiame's wish that the child would be treated as a hero but things didn't go as plan. The villagers only saw him as Kyuubi." Tears were being to swell up in his eyes as the memories came back in full force. "They took every chance to make his life a living hell, they beat him senseless, starved him, even raped him." Sakura gasped as she covered her mouth. She, along with Naruto, was crying. "But he never gave up; he wants to protect his precious people by being the greatest Hokage ever." Naruto looked up Sakura with sad-happy expression with tears flowing down. "And I will protect my precious people, even if it kills me." Sakura was crying her eyes out even more then Naruto. "I understand if you don't want to be with me anymore." He got up to leave but was brought down into the arms of Sakura.

"You baka! I could never hate you for holding Kyuubi; if anything you should be appreciated for keeping him at bay." She tried to say more but her crying wouldn't allow her. She continued crying until she fell asleep. Naruto, being the brilliant tactician that he is, was stumped as what to do next. Fortunally, he was saved by her mother who told him to carry her up to her room and put her to bed. Naruto gently picked her up as not to wake her and carried her to her room. He gently put her down on the bed but before he could get away, a hand grabbed Naruto and pulled him into bed. "Please don't leave." Sakura said softly. Naruto could tell that she was sleep-talking.

"Ok, I won't leave you, Sakura-chan." He quietly and slowly climbed into bed with her, completely unaware of the two sets of eyes watching them. As he settled in, he is reminded of a song that he heard a long time ago. He closed his eyes and played the song in his mind.

_You turned the light on_

_So I could see_

_All the love deep inside of me_

_You hush my sorrow, close my eyes_

_And I'll be yours_

"_Till the end of time_

_This kind of love_

_You can't deny_

_There's no excuse_

_There's no decline_

_When two hearts as one you find,_

_I'll be yours_

"_Till the end of time_

_You were standing there_

_Without a word_

_And then I knew love was real_

_If each tomorrow_

_I find your smile_

_Yes, I'll follow_

"_Till the end of time_

_And I'll be yours_

"_Till the end of time_

_Until the end of time_

_That's how long this love is_

"_Till the end of time_

_I'll be yours_

_You turned the light on_

_So I could see_

_All the love deep inside of me_

_You hush my sorrow, close my eyes_

_And I'll be yours_

"_Till the end of time_

_I'll be yours_

"_Till the end of time_

He soon fell asleep next to his love, feeling confident about the future but didn't notice a thin line of red coming from Naruto's stomach traveling to Sakura's stomach.

_Subconscious domain_

Inner Sakura Haruno was enjoying a nice book entitled 'Icha Icha Paradise: NaruSaku edition.' She first read it 15 years in the future when Ero-sennin wrote a one-of-a-kind edition as a birthday present to the couple when they got married. She was so engrossed in the book that she didn't notice a certain fox sneak up behind her. One of his tails tapped Inner Sakura on the shoulder_"Go away, I'm reading." _She automatically said.Another tap. Angry, she turned around. _"I said go..."_ She froze when she saw who tapped her_"K-kyu-kun?"_ He smirked.

"**So it was you that was hiding within the boy. I thought I felt something transfer when the kit's mate punched him through the window."** She started to stammer.

"_I...uh...well...I..."_ He silenced her with a tail.

"**No need. I won't tell the boy about you unless...**" Kyuubi brought his mouth near Inner Sakura's ear. **"...we finish where we left off, Saku-chan."** He whispered. Now it was Inner Sakura's turn to smirk.

"_I thought you never ask."_ Kyuubi led her to a room which they engaged in _pleasurable activities_ causing the hosts of the two to have rather _erotic_ dreams about the other.

_The Next Morning_

Naruto was having a blissful dream. Let's just say that it involved Sakura, ramen, and whipped cream with cherries on top. He was interrupted from this dream by some sort of noise. He knows what it is but couldn't quite place it. As he started to wake, there was a sudden flash and Naruto shot up in bed wide awake. He immediately could tell he was holding on to something, but his vision was obstructed by something that looks to be like _pink hair_. Now what did he know that has pink hair? Now Naruto was not a morning person so it took a little for his brain to get working again. After it got up and running, he remembered that he put Sakura-chan in bed, he remembered that she didn't want him to go so he laid down next to her, it was then he realized that the mess of pink hair belongs to no other than...

"Sakura-chan, what's going on?" A groan was his response, and then he heard that noise again. He looked to his left to see Sakura's parents giggling and holding something. He squinted his eyes to try to get a better look but he knew instantly what it was when he heard the mother asking the father a question.

"Don't you think that this picture would be great for the next Christmas card, honey?"

It was a camera. Oh boy, that can't be good.

"Oh yes, we'll send it to all of our friends and family." The father replied.

"Send what, daddy?" Asked Sakura groggily as she began to wake up also. Some more giggling followed.

"You'll find out later dear." Uh-oh, Sakura's going to kill him when she sees whatever picture they took. "Now I suggest you get yourselves ready for today. Don't you have a test to take today?" Sakura's eye's snapped open.

"Shit!" She flew out of bed, ran to the dresser, into the bathroom, and shut the door. Running water could be heard seconds later. Sakura's mother walked up to the door.

"Don't take too long dear, Naruto-kun is using the shower next."

"I am?"

"Yes you are. Albedo was kind enough to drop by your house and pick up extra clothes and your weapons so you don't have to go all the way to your house. You really should wear something else besides that ugly jumpsuit."

"I would if I could but the stores won't let me buy anything."

"Is that so? Well then, after today is done, why don't you go clothes shopping with me?"

"Really?"

"Really."

"Thank you, Albedo-san."

"No problem kid. Now we already made breakfast so come on down and eat something while you wait for Sakura to get done with the shower. Naruto looked at the clock. It was 5 a.m. Naruto followed Albedo and his wife downstairs where he eat and when Sakura came out of the shower 20 minutes later and Naruto went into the shower with a questioning look from Sakura as to why he's taking a shower in _her_ house. Her parents explained the situation to her and the position they found them in. Sakura blushed several deep, deep, shades of red that could very well match Kyuubi's fur color. After Naruto came down, Naruto and Sakura left the house and headed toward the training grounds. They eventually made it to see Sasuke already there.

"Teme."

"Dobe." They stared at each other and continued, while Sakura just shook her head.

"Boys."

_3 hours later_

"WHERE THE HELL IS THAT BASTARD?!"

"Don't call Kakashi-sensei a bastard. _Even if he is one."_

"But Sakura-chan, he's THREE hours late!"

"Well, you still shouldn't call him a bastard." Naruto pouted in defeat. A poof was heard.

"Yo." Kakashi was seen with his eye in a 'U' shape and his hand in the air.

"YOU'RE LATE!!!!" Kakashi chuckled and started to rub the back of his head.

"Sorry, I was supposed to take a left at Twilight Road but I went down Boulevard of Dreams instead so I had to backtrack and take a right at Destinies Path and here I am." Naruto and Sakura didn't saying anything after that as they were trying to understand what he just said.

"That makes no sense at all."

"Really?" Asked Kakashi as he stroked his chin. "It makes perfect sense to me."

"Just get on with it."

"If you say so. The test is a survival exercise and your goal is to get these bells from me." He brought out 2 bells from his pocket and attached them to the bottom of his vest and then he brought out a clock and set it to noon. "You are to grab these two bells from me and you have until noon to get the bells for me." They nodded. "GO!" The three genin disappeared. "Well, at least they know how to hide themselves." He said before pulling out his little orange book.

_Meanwhile_

After they disappeared from Kakashi's sight, Naruto sought his teammates. He found Sakura first and found Sasuke later. After he found them, he told them about the true purpose of the test and his plan.

"I can keep Kakashi's attention focused on me while you two wait for an opening to grab the bells."

"How?" Naruto grinned.

"You'll see. Now scatter." They vanished to take up positions near where Kakashi is. Naruto made his way over to where Kakashi was for his part in the plan and stepped out into the clearing catching Kakashi's attention.

"Out of the three genin, you aren't the very brightest, are you?" He smirked.

"Shows what you know. I have something that I want to show you."

"Really?" Kakashi's interest was captured.

"Yes."

Naruto went into a stance that looked like he was crouching a little and his right hand was in a position to draw a sword if he had one from his back. Kakashi was confused. But it increased when some kind of _energy_ eradiated from his body. **"Shinigami Form: Release!"** Naruto was then starting to glow a blue light. _"Normally when I switch, I don't need to do this light show but this is getting his attention."_ Naruto's whole body was glowing by now and waves of the strange energy started to flow out in waves. Kakashi immediately pulled up his headband to reveal his Sharingan but after he looked at him, he made a startling discovery.

"_This isn't chakra."_

The glowing was starting to fade and when it all disappeared, everybody was shocked.

"_I think I'm in trouble."_

"_Is this really the dobe?"_

"_How long have I ignored him?"_

Naruto was seen wearing a black kimono and hakama with a sash and white undershirt with regular sandals instead of ninja sandals, and he also had a black with red trimmings haori with a picture of a nine tailed fox on the back but their eyes were on the sword on his back. As far as everybody was concerned, Naruto didn't have a sword 2 minutes ago.

"You like, Kakashi-sensei?" That was the only warning he got before Naruto lunged forward and punched Kakashi in the stomach with his left hand and his right hand was still on the sword's handle. Kakashi recovered from the surprise attack quickly and pulled out his kunai. Naruto finally drew his katana and settled into an unusual stance. "Let's dance." Naruto lunged at Kakashi, although not at full power but just enough for him to keep his attention on him, and swung his zanpakuto which Kakashi blocked.

_Meanwhile_

Sakura and Sasuke watched the fight waiting for their chance to try and grab a bell. So far, from the looks of it, Kakashi had forgotten about them. Naruto was keeping Kakashi busy with his sword skills and Kage Bunshins. It was impressive to say the least. Eventually Kakashi was beginning to get tired and soon him and her saw their chance when Naruto knocked Kakashi back with what looked like a string of fire coming from the tip of his sword. They rushed up toward him and made a grab for the bells but he recovered just in time for him to jump out of the way but was sent flying by a roundhouse kick from Naruto, in mid-air. While he was still in mid-air flying, Sakura and Sasuke followed him and made another swipe at him as he started to land but Kakashi knocked them away.

Sasuke began his own set of attacks while Sakura took swipes at the bells. Kakashi was making it close for them. 10 minutes later the timer rang and the 3 genin went to the area with the logs and lunches defeated. Naruto released his form and he was in the usual orange jumpsuit. After Kakashi made his way over to them, he asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"What was that, Naruto? Never in all my years have I seen something like that." Naruto smiled and rubbed the back of his head.

"Can't tell you, it's a secret. But I will tell you this; it was a gift from some new friends of mine."

"Who? Do we know them?" He shook his head.

"Not really."

"I don't suppose that you tell us who they are?" He laughed.

"Not a chance, Kakashi-sensei. So what about the test?"

"Well, you understood the true meaning to the test, which is teamwork, and you worked together to get the bells even if you didn't get them so I guess you..." He trailed off. He brought his hand to his chin that looked like he was thinking. Sakura and Sasuke waited nervously while Naruto already knew the answer. "...Pass." The genin cheered at the success of their exam. "Team 7 gets their first mission tomorrow!"

* * *

This chapter was all me. This chapter has got to be my best chapter yet, for content and length. Please read and review. 


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